Improvement in cultivators



' SLOCUMB & PHILLIPS. wh ee l Cultiva tor.

No 42,513. Patented Apr. 26, 1864. x

l PUNITEI STATES S. \V. SLOOUMB AND E. PHILLIPS, OF FULTON CITY, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CULTIVATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 42,553, dated April 26, 1861.

To all whom it may concern- Be itknown that we, S. W. SLOCUMB and E. PHILLIPS, both ofFulton City, in the county of Whitesides and State of Illinois, have invented a new and Improved Cultivator, and we do hereby declare the following to be a full and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of our improved cultivator, the section being taken in the plane indicated by the line 00 cr, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a plan or top view thereof. Fig. 3 is a rear end elevation of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to that class of cultivators which straddle the rows and pass over the growing plants; and the chiefobject of our improvement is to provide more simple and ready means by which the operator is enabled to shift the inner plows in a lateral direction in order to adapt the same tocultivate around any plants which may be out of line.

To this end theinvention consists in the employment of stirrups which are secured to the standards of the plows that work adjacent to the corn, and which may be occupied by the feet of the driver, who is thereby enabled to vary the position of the plows at wi1l,thestandards being suspended from the bounds or beams in such manner as to render butlittle exertion necessary to impart the requisite movement to the plows, and also adapt them to be adjusted independently of each other, all as will be hereinafter more fully explained.

In order that others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains maybe enabled to fully understand and.use the same, we will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

In the accompanyingdrawings, A may rep resent an axle which has its hearings in wheels B B, which are of such diameter that the axle A will pass over the growing plants without producing any injury thereto.

O 0 represent the bounds or beams, whic I are secured to the under side of the axle A in oblique positions, the same converging to ward the front, where they are joined to the draft-pole D, as illustrated.

E represents the drivers seat, supported at the rear ends of the hounds O 0 in suitable proximity with the standards F I which are attached to and suspended from the hounds by means of universal joints f* f*, which allow said standards to be moved laterally in either direction and turned up or down, either for the purpose of adapting the plows Gr G'* to conform to the sinuosities and irregularities of the rows or be raised entirely out of contact with the ground.

[L h represent metallic loops, which are attached to theinner side of the respective standards F I. These loops h hare so constructed and situated that the driver can conveniently insert his feet therein, and by means of the latter he is thus enabled to shift the plows laterally to any desired extent with ease and rapidity. The driver, beside being enabled by the loops h h to fully control the plows G G*, has provided therein or formed thereby convenient rests for his feet. The simplicity of this contrivance for adapting the plows to be adjusted atwill and the facile mannerinwhich it may be carried into effect are obvious, and it will be needless to expatiate thereon.

F F represent the outer and rear plow-standards, which work in a central position between the rows of plants, and which are suspended from the hounds O O by means of pivots ff, which allow them to swing up and down in a vertical plane only. The standards F F are braced and adjusted by means of chains or a, the latter being attached to threaded eyebolts H H, which are inserted through the axle A, and in the same manner the standards F* F* are braced and adjusted to work at any desired depth by chains cu a* from threaded eyebolts H which are secured adjustably in a cross-bar, I, the ends of which rest upon the bounds (J G at a pointin front of the axle. The eyebolts are retained in the axle A and cross-bar I by thumb-nuts (t the turning of which adapts the eyebolts to be adjusted in such manner that therespective standards may be elevated or lowered at pleasure, according as it may be desired to have the plows work deep or shallow. The standards F FI F* also connect by chains b b with a lever, J, which has its fulcrum in a forked support, a, rising from the axle A, and which extends back within suitable proximity with the drivers seat, so that the driver can readily depress the same with one of his hands. Thus when the cultivator is to be turned all the plows G G'* G G'* may be thrown out of the ground simultaneously.

This cultivator is so constructed that the inner and outer plows may be arranged to work respectively at points equidistant before and behind'the points at which the wheels B B rest on the ground, so that the plows will preserve the same relative positions and cultivate with equal efficiency in all movements of the machine occasioned by the undulations or irregularities of the ground.

The operator of this implement occupies a position in such close proximity with the plows themselvesthat he is enabled with his feet to disengage any stalks or other trash which might clog the plows and tend to interfere with the effectual operation thereof.

It is obvious that the implement, beside constituting a very superior cultivator, may be advantageously employed as a coverer for small seed or grain.

The members which compose our cultivator are of such limited number and simple construction that the machine may be obtained at little cost and placed within avery smallcompass for transportation.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The stirrups h h, arranged as herein described, and employed to enable the operator to move the inner plows laterally and independently by the direct application ofhis feet, as specified.

2-. In combination with the loosely-shackled standards F I F F constructed and arranged as herein described, the chains a a a* af 1) b, efebolts H H H 'H and thumbnuts a as and for the purpose set forth.

S.'VV. SLOUUMB. EVANDER PHILLIPS.

Witnesses:

G. N. WHEELER, SAM'L. ECHELBERGER. 

